If bees are endangered, and African bees are taking over or hybridizing

>>7943078
Bees are not endangered.

>>7943080
Well, they are declining to where farmers are taking special measures to make their crops polinated. This is called colony collapse disorder and unless I am mistaken, it is a real phenomenon without a proper explanation yet.

>>7943092
Honeybees are not native to the US.

>>7943098
OK, sure, but they're useful for agriculture.

Are the European bees (or wherever they're from) being replaced by native bees? It's basically the same question.

“SAVE THE BEES!” is a common refrain these days, and it’s great to see people interested in the little animals critical for our food supply around the globe. But I have one quibble: you’re talking about the wrong bees.

Honey bees will be fine. They are a globally distributed, domesticated animal. Apis mellifera will not go extinct, and the species is not remotely threatened with extinction.

The bees you should be concerned about are the 3,999 other bee species living in North America, most of which are solitary, stingless, ground-nesting bees you’ve never heard of. Incredible losses in native bee diversity are already happening. 50 percent of Midwestern native bee species disappeared from their historic ranges in the last 100 years. Four of our bumblebee species declined 96 percent in the last 20 years, and three species are believed to already be extinct. A little part of me despairs when I read in a scientific paper: “This species probably should be listed under the Endangered Species Act if it still exists.”

http://www.wired.com/2015/04/youre-worrying-wrong-bees/

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>>7943106
Survival of the fittest for sure, it's too late, nothing can be done or is being done to slow human population growth and what 7 to 10 billion top predators eating, shitting and sleeping on this limited ball of dirt implies.

Like crows, seagulls, cockroaches, ticks and other human parasites, coyotes, squirrels...only bees and wasps that thrive with humanity are fit to make the cut. Americanized honeybees may have found the niche and that's life.

When I was a boy I was very disturbed at species annihilation, but then I grew up and realized, it won't be stopped, can't be stopped. If by some miracle it is, it won't be by human intervention but by natural intervention, like a human plague or what have you. Clever apes for sure, but still apes.

>>7943106
>solitary, stingless, ground-nesting bees you’ve never heard of

Oh in that case who gives a shit.

>>7943495
>only bees and wasps that thrive with humanity are fit to make the cut
that's not happening either

>>7943495
But it can be stopped, and many efforts at conservation have been hugely successful. Furthermore, each of these species contributes somehow to a vast web of ecological interactions that we have limited data on, so it's in our best interests to try and retain as much biodiversity as possible, which can be achieved with a moderate amount of effort in most cases.

>>7943106
>most of which are solitary, stingless, ground-nesting bees you’ve never heard of.
Does that include sweat bees? I get a lot of them in my garden here in the South.

>>7943495
>wasps
Fuck wasps.

>>7943527
This was my exact reaction.

>>7943078
WE

>>7945159
WUZ

>>7943078
"Africanized bees" are somewhat of an urban legend. Years ago there was a fear that these more aggressive bees would take over the country and start killing people in huge swarms. That is, of course, ridiculous.
While they are believed to be slightly more aggressive than their european counterparts, they don't pose any major risks to people. Just don't fuck with bee hives, it's common sense.

Colony collapse disorder is what's killing the bees, nobody knows why it's happening but, as its name implies, bee colonies are collapsing. Some believe it's caused by a virus, a parasite, pesticides, or a combination of those. I don't believe africanized bees are any more immune to these effects, but that may be an interesting study. I doubt the problem is fixing itself because of this.

>>7943106
This sounds about right.

>>7943098
>Honeybees are not native to the US.
Neither are humans.
Prior to the Beringia migrations, there were no humans on this continent.
What's your point?

>>7945181
KINGZ

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>>7943495
>only bees and wasps that thrive with humanity are fit to make the cut.
Republican detected.

>>7945230
CCD is a US thing.

Last I heard colony collapse disorder was caused by pesticides that don't affect the bees themselves, and only affect their offspring. Modern testing practices only require a subject to be watched for three weeks to dinnertime if the pesticide is harmful or not, and tests of the next generation aren't done. It's kind of scary when you think about all the products that are made for humans and we wont know how they affect offspring. Could wipe ourselves out because there's a new product everyone has got to have that makes their kids infertile or something.

But on the flip side, imagine having to wait two generations before any invention was approved. Good solutions are hard to find.

>>7945233
N

>>7945510
THINGS

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>>7945303
>CCD is a US thing.
Not exclusively.
Besides, what has that got to do with bees not being native to the Americas?
If humans here were mysteriously dying off in droves, nobody would say "they aren't native, who cares?".